pakistan geographical review 1954 - University of the Punjab

dry. RailfaH at Sukkur is less than 4"; and the temperatures are high.
AI.though the air is very-dry and hot in summer yet it is not so distressing as
elsewhere in the north. The nights are generally cooler. The climate almost
resembles that of the semi-desert type. During summer dust storms are very
common every evening.
The weather condit i-ins during December, January and February are
typically cold and bracing. From April to June, and some times in July, hot
dry winds blow from the North-east and South-east. During May and June,
the scorching heat of the sun and wind is intolerable. The temperature in the
shade goes upto 112°F. The humidity mounts to 80 p.c. Dampness makes the
climate sticky and disagreeable.
In this irrigated tract the town of Sukkur is subject to much water
logging which results in mosquito breeding. For this reason malaria is the main
disease affecting the population during the winter season. During June, July,
August, and September high humidity, ~sanitary conditions of the larger
part of the town and the unsatisfactory diets of the major section of the
population often result in the outbreak of cholera, small pox and diarrhoea in
the town. The outbreak of such an epidemic is always local and always starts
from the section of the town where the poor or working class population is
housed. The majority of the cases are always in those localities which may
be called the slums of the town. The dirt and the refuse of the houses
contaminate the atmosphere and are mainly responsible for the spread of such
diseases in the town. For the above reason the epidemic germs breed in
abundance and make the winter and rainy season generally unhealthy.
The natural vegetation of Sind, as a whole, is very poor and the greater
part of the region has herbaceous vegetation; along the banks of the river
Indus thickets of shrubs and a few trees of arid and semi-arid or tropical type
are found. In the rainless, arid and hot tract of the Sukkur area, due to the
loamy nature of the soil and the quantity of fresh water available, babul
(Acacia arabica) shishum (dalborgia) bhan or white poplar, tammarind as well
as grasses of various descriptions grow well. A mixed forest belt spreads over
a narrow strip of land, 25 X 2 miles, all along the banks of the Indus from the
towns of Ghotki and Shikarpur upto Sukkur and even further below. This belt
is of riverain forests which depend upon the flood water of the river for their
growth. The total forest stratches over about 5 sq. miles of land in the Sukkur
area of which 80% is riverain and 20% inland forests. According to the
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